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Stripped of his Chase spot and then his sponsorship, Martin Truex Jr. is in a hasty scramble to
find a ride for next year.

He his little time to piece together a deal, and few options.

“There’s not a whole lot out there,” Truex said yesterday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

But if he can find a funded ride, owner Michael Waltrip is willing to let Truex walk.

With NAPA out of the picture, Truex could decide to bolt Michael Waltrip Racing as part of the
aftershock of the Richmond scandal, in which he was booted out of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup
championship. NAPA’s multimillion-dollar sponsorship defection from MWR at the end of the year is
just the latest fallout from the team’s attempt to manipulate a race to get Truex into the
Chase.

NAPA is Truex’s primary sponsor and in the first year of what was a three-year extension
announced last August. The deal was to run through the 2015 season and was believed to be worth at
least $15 million a year.

With only nine races left this season, Waltrip asked Truex for more time to strike a deal for
2014 funding.

“If he came to me tomorrow and said, ‘I got a deal to go do something,’ then obviously I would
not hold him back,” Waltrip said. “I owe him a lot for his loyalty and his passion for our team. I
wouldn’t hold him back from doing something he wanted to do, but I’d like him to hang around so we
can attract a sponsor and keep him in our cars.”

Truex, who qualified fifth for Sunday’s race, would like to stay at MWR. He doesn’t know whether
NAPA would follow him to another team.

“I’d always hoped that I’d be at Michael Waltrip Racing for a long, long time,” Truex said. “
That really hasn’t changed. But it’s a lot more confusing at the moment.”

MWR also was fined $300,000, general manager Ty Norris was suspended indefinitely and all three
crew chiefs were placed on probation for the rest of the year.

“You see a team go through some decisions that they went through and choices, and you want a
team to get penalized for those types of things, no matter what team it is,” Chase driver Jeff
Gordon said. “But you never want to see it go to this level where they lose a sponsor.”

Waltrip said he was scared about how the penalties could harm his organization, and he
apologized for his team’s actions.

“We will race forward with respect and appreciation for being able to be here,” he said. “We’ll
start to regain trust.”

Aaron’s, sponsor of Brian Vickers for MWR, said it remains dedicated to the organization, but
Clint Bowyer sponsor 5-Hour Energy said on Thursday that it was still evaluating its relationship
with the team. Waltrip said yesterday that he expected 5-Hour Energy to remain with MWR and had a
meeting set this weekend with the president of the company.

Newman sets track record in winning pole position

Ryan Newman turned a track- record lap of 136.497 mph to win the pole at New Hampshire Motor
Speedway and headline a top 12 loaded with Chase drivers for Sunday’s race.

Chase drivers filled 10 of the top 12 spots. Kasey Kahne was second, Gordon third and Kurt Busch
fourth for the second Chase race.